'Only Weeds Grow Here,' San Fran Ugliest Lawn Contestant Brags

San Francisco officials are encouraging locals to show off the unsightly condition of their yards as a new kind of bragging right during the state's historic drought.

The San Francisco Department of the Environment is asking residents to submit pictures of their yards in a contest where the ugliest yard wins. It's the latest bid by public officials to redefine sensible conservation habits in drought-plagued California.

“The ugliest yard really isn’t one that is desolate and full of weeds and dirt,” department spokesman Guillermo Rodriguez told the San Francisco Examiner. “A yard that wastes a lot of water to maintain–that is ugly.”

In the ugliest yard competition, which runs through May 15, contestants are asked to take a picture of their brown, dried-up lawns, and people can vote online for the ugliest one. The most decrepit yards win, and the prizes focus on new landscaping.

The grand prize is a "yard makeover from Madrono Landscape Design Studio featuring drought tolerant and native plants," according to the contest page. "The three submissions with the most votes will receive a landscaping consultation, native plant seeds and compost – enough to makeover 500 sq. ft. of their yard!" Every entrant gets a packet of native seeds, "enough to get their lawn makeover started," according to the contest. In California, native plants tend to be more drought-tolerant.

Photos of the ugly yards are posted online for voting. "We only grow weeds here," one entrant says, alongside a picture of a barren, dirt-only lawn. The entry has received over 700 votes.

Rodriguez said the department is trying to "redefine" ugly.

“People think a beautiful green lawn is what is the ideal,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We’re saying you don’t have to let your yard go fallow. You don’t have to have plain dirt or cement things over to address the drought. You can use native drought-tolerant plants in San Francisco to have a beautiful yard and conserve water at the same time.”

The contest coincides with the launch of Plant Finder, an online database that the department created to promote sustainable landscaping. The website "is a resource for gardeners, designers, ecologists and others interested in greening neighborhoods, enhancing our urban ecology and surviving the drought," according to the site.

These efforts aim to support Governor Jerry Brown's mandate, announced in April, forcing cities and towns to cut water use to 25 percent below 2013 levels.

For more drought coverage, check out Water Online's Water Scarcity Solution Center.